Sonic Design - Project 1

Sonic Design - Project 1

In this project, we are required to come up with a storyline and then create a soundscape for it. The storyline can depict a daily life scenario, a bustling city, a market, or even wildlife. Our storyline should not include dialogue or music and should be presented from a first-person perspective. My idea is to showcase my daily life during the holidays, which is playing video games and eating instant noodles alone at home.

Before creating the soundscape, we started by writing an audio descriptive story. Thanks to ChatGPT's help, I managed to come up with a very detailed story with audio descriptions for each scene.

Figure 1.1 Storyline with Audio Description

Before I start the soundscape, I identified the main sound sources needed for each scene. Then, using this list, I searched for sound resources on Freesound and Pixabay, as well as a short game audio from YouTube.

Figure 1.2 Sound Sources

After finding all the sound sources I wanted, the first thing I did was arrange the main sounds according to the script to estimate the total length, to make sure it stayed between 2-3 minutes. Below is the clip after placing all the sounds into the multitrack, resulting in a total audio length of about 2 minutes and 40 seconds. As my scene is mostly alone at home, the background audio for my storyline is not very obvious, mainly focusing on the foreground. Therefore, the arrangement of the multitrack looks like a descending staircase over time.

Figure 1.3 Arrangement of Main Sound Sources

After that, I made the first adjustment to most of the audio, which is adjusting the parametric equalizer. This is because some of the downloaded audio might not have the same recording settings or environment, which can cause them to sound different. Below are some examples of audio clips where I made distinct changes using the parametric equalizer.

• Stomach growling - I lowered the middle part of the equalizer to make it sound more like a murmur, as the gastric sound in the original audio was too obvious.
• Steel clattering - Since the original sound of the pot clattering was too sharp and high-pitched, I lowered the pitch and increased the bass to create a more comfortable sound.
• Stove ignition - I increased the bass and pitch of the sound because the original one was too soft, making it hard to hear the gas flame.
• Water boiling - I increased the bass to make the bubbling sound more obvious.
• Packet opening - I increased the bass and lowered the pitch so it wouldn't sound too high-pitched.

Figure 1.4 Stomach Growling

Figure 1.5 Steel clattering

Figure 1.6 Stove ignition

Figure 1.7 Water boiling

Figure 1.8 Packet opening

Then, I used a pitch shifter to further adjust some audio to lower the pitch, as some of them sound better this way. For example, I lowered the "beep" sound to match the sound of the air conditioner remote control and adjusted the noodle slurping sound so that it synced with the other voice from my mouth. Apart from that, I also used Dereverb on some audio that had a spacious sound to reduce its spaciousness, making it sound closer to the listener.

I also made adjustments to the panning effect in the kitchen, such as when moving between the boiling water, stove, and refrigerator. I adjusted the volume as well, increasing it when closer and decreasing it when walk away.

Figure 1.9 Volume and Pan

Below is my first attempt of my audio design:

Figure 1.10 First Attempt

Here are the comments from Mr. Razif after consulting him on my first attempt:

• The game audio is too long; it can be shortened.
• When the person walks to the kitchen, it is too silent. Consider adding a fan spinning sound as background noise.
• The game audio doesn’t sound like it’s in a room, it sounds more like it’s playing directly from headphones.
• The foreground sounds are too sudden, perhaps because of the quiet background.
• The blowing sound sounds like deep breathing sound.

Based on his feedback, I made some adjustments to each of his comments. First, I modified the game audio to sound like it’s coming from a speaker by adjusting the parametric equalizer and adding studio reverb.

Figure 1.11 Game audio adjustment

Then, I added an exhaust hood sound in the background so the foreground sounds wouldn’t be too sudden. I also adjusted the fade-in and fade-out of the foreground sounds to make them smoother. Additionally, I adjusted the overall volume so that it’s neither too soft nor too loud and made some minor tweaks to the parametric equalizer. Below is the final outcome of my audio, exported in 48000Hz, 16-bit, mp3 format.

Figure 1.12 Second Attempt

Figure 1.13 Evidence in Adobe Audition

Google Drive Link to Project 1

Reflection

Creating audio based on a home scene wasn’t an easy task. Honestly, I somewhat regret choosing to create a soundscape of daily life at home, because most of my friends who created soundscapes of a busy city or wildlife could easily find high-quality sound sources with minimal adjustments needed. Meanwhile, I spent a lot of time finding the specific sound sources I needed. I also had to adjust and replace other sounds for the ones I wanted. For instance, using a cheese packet opening sound to replace opening a noodle packet, using stone splashing into water to replace instant noodle. Additionally, the quality of sound sources from Freesound and Pixabay was inconsistent, some were clear, while others were muffled. This required me to make more adjustments to ensure all sounds fit in the same environment. Anyhow, I am satisfied with the final outcome and believe I can do even better in my next assignment.